Patents by Inventor Douglas H. Beeferman

Douglas H. Beeferman has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11423888
    Abstract: Predicting and learning users' intended actions on an electronic device based on free-form speech input. Users' actions can be monitored to develop a list of carrier phrases having one or more actions that correspond to the carrier phrases. A user can speak a command into a device to initiate an action. The spoken command can be parsed and compared to a list of carrier phrases. If the spoken command matches one of the known carrier phrases, the corresponding action(s) can be presented to the user for selection. If the spoken command does not match one of the known carrier phrases, search results (e.g., Internet search results) corresponding to the spoken command can be presented to the user. The actions of the user in response to the presented action(s) and/or the search results can be monitored to update the list of carrier phrases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: William J. Byrne, Alexander H. Gruenstein, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Publication number: 20190295550
    Abstract: Predicting and learning users' intended actions on an electronic device based on free-form speech input. Users' actions can be monitored to develop a list of carrier phrases having one or more actions that correspond to the carrier phrases. A user can speak a command into a device to initiate an action. The spoken command can be parsed and compared to a list of carrier phrases. If the spoken command matches one of the known carrier phrases, the corresponding action(s) can be presented to the user for selection. If the spoken command does not match one of the known carrier phrases, search results (e.g., Internet search results) corresponding to the spoken command can be presented to the user. The actions of the user in response to the presented action(s) and/or the search results can be monitored to update the list of carrier phrases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2019
    Publication date: September 26, 2019
    Inventors: William J. Byrne, Alexander H. Gruenstein, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Patent number: 10297252
    Abstract: Predicting and learning users' intended actions on an electronic device based on free-form speech input. Users' actions can be monitored to develop a list of carrier phrases having one or more actions that correspond to the carrier phrases. A user can speak a command into a device to initiate an action. The spoken command can be parsed and compared to a list of carrier phrases. If the spoken command matches one of the known carrier phrases, the corresponding action(s) can be presented to the user for selection. If the spoken command does not match one of the known carrier phrases, search results (e.g., Internet search results) corresponding to the spoken command can be presented to the user. The actions of the user in response to the presented action(s) and/or the search results can be monitored to update the list of carrier phrases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2019
    Assignee: Google LLC
    Inventors: William J. Byrne, Alexander H. Gruenstein, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Patent number: 9858917
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for enhancing speech recognition accuracy. In one aspect, a method includes receiving voice queries, obtaining, for one or more of the voice queries, feedback information that references an action taken by a user that submitted the voice query after reviewing a result of the voice query, generating, for the one or more voice queries, a posterior recognition confidence measure that reflects a probability that the voice query was correctly recognized, wherein the posterior recognition confidence measure is generated based at least on the feedback information for the voice query, selecting a subset of the one or more voice queries based on the posterior recognition confidence measures, and adapting an acoustic model using the subset of the voice queries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2018
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Brian Patrick Strope, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Publication number: 20160314786
    Abstract: Predicting and learning users' intended actions on an electronic device based on free-form speech input. Users' actions can be monitored to develop a list of carrier phrases having one or more actions that correspond to the carrier phrases. A user can speak a command into a device to initiate an action. The spoken command can be parsed and compared to a list of carrier phrases. If the spoken command matches one of the known carrier phrases, the corresponding action(s) can be presented to the user for selection. If the spoken command does not match one of the known carrier phrases, search results (e.g., Internet search results) corresponding to the spoken command can be presented to the user. The actions of the user in response to the presented action(s) and/or the search results can be monitored to update the list of carrier phrases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Publication date: October 27, 2016
    Inventors: William J. Byrne, Alexander H. Gruenstein, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Patent number: 9412360
    Abstract: Predicting and learning users' intended actions on an electronic device based on free-form speech input. Users' actions can be monitored to develop a list of carrier phrases having one or more actions that correspond to the carrier phrases. A user can speak a command into a device to initiate an action. The spoken command can be parsed and compared to a list of carrier phrases. If the spoken command matches one of the known carrier phrases, the corresponding action(s) can be presented to the user for selection. If the spoken command does not match one of the known carrier phrases, search results (e.g., Internet search results) corresponding to the spoken command can be presented to the user. The actions of the user in response to the presented action(s) and/or the search results can be monitored to update the list of carrier phrases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: William J. Byrne, Alexander H. Gruenstein, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Patent number: 9263034
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for enhancing speech recognition accuracy. In one aspect, a method includes receiving voice queries, obtaining, for one or more of the voice queries, feedback information that references an action taken by a user that submitted the voice query after reviewing a result of the voice query, generating, for the one or more voice queries, a posterior recognition confidence measure that reflects a probability that the voice query was correctly recognized, wherein the posterior recognition confidence measure is generated based at least on the feedback information for the voice query, selecting a subset of the one or more voice queries based on the posterior recognition confidence measures, and adapting an acoustic model using the subset of the voice queries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2016
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Brian Strope, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Publication number: 20140229185
    Abstract: Predicting and learning users' intended actions on an electronic device based on free-form speech input. Users' actions can be monitored to develop a list of carrier phrases having one or more actions that correspond to the carrier phrases. A user can speak a command into a device to initiate an action. The spoken command can be parsed and compared to a list of carrier phrases. If the spoken command matches one of the known carrier phrases, the corresponding action(s) can be presented to the user for selection. If the spoken command does not match one of the known carrier phrases, search results (e.g., Internet search results) corresponding to the spoken command can be presented to the user. The actions of the user in response to the presented action(s) and/or the search results can be monitored to update the list of carrier phrases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2014
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Applicant: Google Inc.
    Inventors: William J. Byrne, Alexander H. Gruenstein, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Patent number: 8543645
    Abstract: This disclosure generally relates to assigning and simultaneously running multiple client-side experiments on client devices. A file includes information regarding experiments that are available, including information regarding “layers,” which are logical, imaginary containers in which each experiment “resides.” Each experiment is associated with one layer. For each experiment, the file includes information regarding a location and size of the experiment within the layer. When the client device takes an action, a software module identifies a value of an identifier associated with the action. Each such identifier is associated with one or more of the layers. The software module can calculate, for each of the associated layers, a location within the layer based on the identifier value. The computer software module can identify, based on the information in the file, each experiment that overlaps with the calculated location within each layer and cause each identified experiment to be activated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew I. Lloyd, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Patent number: 8185392
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for enhancing speech recognition accuracy. In one aspect, a method includes receiving voice queries, obtaining, for one or more of the voice queries, feedback information that references an action taken by a user that submitted the voice query after reviewing a result of the voice query, generating, for the one or more voice queries, a posterior recognition confidence measure that reflects a probability that the voice query was correctly recognized, wherein the posterior recognition confidence measure is generated based at least on the feedback information for the voice query, selecting a subset of the one or more voice queries based on the posterior recognition confidence measures, and adapting an acoustic model using the subset of the voice queries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2012
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Brian Strope, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Patent number: 6640218
    Abstract: A measure of the usefulness of an item in a collection of information with respect to a first set of one or more criteria is determined. A first measure of the usefulness of the item with respect to the first set of criteria is determined. A measure of the quality of the item is determined. A second measure of usefulness based on the first measure of usefulness and the measure of quality is determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Assignee: Lycos, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew R. Golding, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Publication number: 20030078928
    Abstract: An advertisement targeting process for determining the advertisement preferences of a user includes a query monitoring process for monitoring the queries entered by users. A query association process associates each monitored query with one or more predefined advertisement categories. A preference file maintenance process maintains, for each user, an advertisement preference file that specifies the predefined advertisement categories associated with each monitored query entered by the user. This generates a list of user-preferred advertisement categories.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2001
    Publication date: April 24, 2003
    Inventors: Alden Dorosario, Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Publication number: 20020156778
    Abstract: The computer-implemented process includes establishing a database containing data corresponding to a probability that words occur together in text, receiving a phrase comprised of the words, retrieving the data for the words from the database in response to receiving the phrase, and determining, based on the data, whether to perform a text search for the phrase as a whole or for the words individually.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2001
    Publication date: October 24, 2002
    Inventor: Douglas H. Beeferman
  • Patent number: 5710866
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method of recognizing an input speech utterance compares the input speech utterance to a plurality of hidden Markov models to obtain a constrained acoustic score that reflects the probability that the hidden Markov model matches the input speech utterance. The method computes a confidence measure for each hidden Markov model that reflects the probability of the constrained acoustic score being correct. The computed confidence measure is then used to adjust the constrained acoustic score. Preferably, the confidence measure is computed based on a difference between the constrained acoustic score and an unconstrained acoustic score that is computed independently of any language context. In addition, a new confidence measure preferably is computed for each input speech frame from the input speech utterance so that the constrained acoustic score is adjusted for each input speech frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1995
    Date of Patent: January 20, 1998
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Fileno A. Alleva, Douglas H. Beeferman, Xuedong Huang